Dandy, Doogie, Furkids

No more Frankenweiner

Following a week of progress, Dandy visited the vet on Monday to get her staples out. She has made some “literally” good strides with her leg over the weekend, I’m rather scared to say. She behaves as if she didn’t have IVDD surgery at all: threatening to jump on and off furniture, chasing after neighbor pups, and generally being a dog on a mission to get her way. However, she also enjoys just being around the humans and knows when to relax on her dog bed when we’re watching TV or playing WoW.

Which is more than I can say for Doogie…the pee monster. I’m still grumbling over last night’s marking incident in which he wet 2 sofa cushions, 2 toss pillows and a faux fur blanket. What a BRAT!

Dandy, Doogie, Furkids

On the road to recovery

The past week has been challenging. Watching your beloved furkid just waddling around like a drunken loon is sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes comical. After the first few days of pain subsided, Dandy is in high spirits–being the kissy puppy that she is. She is also behaving like the normal haughty princess she is…whining and crying to be out of house arrest. She’s eager to tear our of her crate and get outside at every opportunity. If she spots a toy, she’s dashing for it, ready to tear it apart. In the last 3 days, it’s been quite fun trying to keep this eager pup in check.

For about a week, I was extremely concerned that her right back leg might not improve. She has less muscle mass in that leg, and perhaps that is why it is taking more time for her to regain mobility with it. It’s been painful to watch her run on her right knuckle–I’ve resorted to hoisting her back end by her tail, to give her a little more mobility when she is using the bathroom. Dandy is getting regular her physical therapy, twice to three times a day, favoring the right leg in particular. Today, she seems to be displaying progress with it, since she seems to be dragging it less than normal.

Since she seems to be in less pain these days, I’ve decreased her Tramadol intake to twice daily. But I’ve learned to make sure to give her a half teaspoon of peanut butter with her pills…she has managed to spit out her meds on a few occasions.

Good news, the crate divider panel I ordered finally arrived today! Doogie will be happy to share the crate with her again.

Dining, Reviews

Serious diner chow

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers

Burgers are in the sign, and burgers we found aplenty on Red Robin’s menu. However, I’m not certain that the burgers lived up to the $10 price tag or the “gourmet” billing. I found them satisfying enough…and the bottomless steak fries deter even the most hearty appetites from exploring more of the menu. My party of three started off with a tower of onion rings, which were pleasantly crunchy but had very little of the oniony zing that I looked for. The menu paired the rings with a spicy, tangy Campfire sauce and the typical ranch dressing, which ensured that the rings were consumed quickly.

On to the main course. Our host assured us that everything on the menu could be customized to our liking. My friend was eyeballing their sliders, but wanted “burger” sliders instead of the steak sliders advertised. Though our eager waitperson professed that the sliders could be prepared the way she wanted, my friend’s meal did not arrive as a requested. Two out of the three sliders were summarily consigned to a doggie bag.

For my lunch, I ordered the Bleu Cheese burger, with red onions subbing for the onion straws. Once I finally eliminated all the pesky steak fries on my plate, I attacked the burger and found it to my liking. My fiance played it safe and ordered the house Bacon Cheeseburger and also had no complaints.

Red Robin designed many wildly-creative names for some of their signature drinks. Had I not ordered a soda, I would have loved to have tried their smoothies or milkshakes. Alas, the steep pricing might be a deterrent to future visits–I feel my calories would be better spent at Snuffer’s or Jake’s for half Red Robin’s asking price.

My rating: 3.0 stars
***

Fred’s Downtown Philly Cheesesteaks

I have glimpsed true Philly cheesesteak greatness in the DFW area, and its staunchest purveyor is Fred’s Downtown Philly. Before Fred’s, pretenders paraded before me, claiming they knew how to serve up a good cheesesteak, but I learned to my dismay of my foolishness. I knew nothing about what a real Philly cheesesteak should taste like, and Fred’s has opened my eyes. Great calorie-glopping loads of grilled steak and onions, cheese whiz (or a cheese of your choice), cradled by a soft warm bun–I have not been disappointed in the two visits I paid Fred’s. Both their Plano and Allen locations have shown me the light, and I will proclaim Fred’s magnificence to any who would listen. Run, don’t walk, to this altar of Philly cheesesteak goodness.

And for those of you craving authentic Philly fare, make sure to add TastyKakes to with your meal. You will be hard-pressed to find these anywhere in Texas–in the deep South!

My rating: 4.0 stars
****

Ye Olde Garden

Pondering the winter garden

As the evidence of fall starts coloring the landscape, I am in a frame of mind to garden once again. My pending move to a house with a yard has lent some excitement to the notion of planting flower bulbs in the ground. Off and on, I’ve been browsing the internet looking for good deals on daffodils, lilies and other flowering options.

I had an opportunity to give my Japanese maple some TLC 2 weekends ago. I suspect that watering neglect gave cause for it to brown over 50% of its foliage. The fiance did get a drill to start punching holes in the bottom of its pot so that I could give it a good drenching. I also added more soil material to cover some exposed roots.

However with the weather turning colder, I wonder if it’s too late to add any fertilizer to the pot. I realize that when I originally potted the maple, it received half a pot of garden soil and another half of compost. Since most sage advice regarding Japanese maples forbid the use of fertilizer late into the fall, I will withhold and hope that the maple will survive the winter and rebloom next spring.

Oddly enough, the tree has shown some new growth in the last month or so, most shooting near the top of the tree and in other various spots.

Technical

Why Gmail Manager won’t work

An annoyance with the Gmail Manager addon for Firefox recently surfaced which disallowed auto-login from the status bar tray. Some quirk of the latest Firefox version or a new method of authenticating Gmail logins “broke” the addon. For about a week or two, I’ve been prompted to type in my password every time I check my Gmail. The addon also would not report new messages either. However, a fix finally arrived in the form of Gmail Manager 0.5.7.5 available from the Mozilla addon site. Glad to have my Gmail Manager working properly again!